About Me

I'm an aboriginal dog breed fancier, birder and wildlife conservationist. I work with the wildlife conservation NGO Satpuda Foundation in the tiger reserves of central India. Before that I worked for 14 years with the street dogs of Mumbai. I created and manage the INDog Project www.indog.co.in and the INDog Club.

This blog is for aboriginal breed enthusiasts. It is part of the INDog Project www.indog.co.in. Only INDogs (Indian Pariah) and INDog-mix mongrels are featured here. The two are NOT the same, do please read the text on the right to understand the difference. Our aim: to create awareness about the primitive natural breed called the Indian Pariah Dog/INDog.

Wednesday, January 5, 2011

Ghattu, victim of an inferior INDog-owner

Amid all the happy INDog stories, let's not forget that the third-rate low-life kind of dog owner is still flourishing all over the country (and of course the world), and many unlucky dogs of all breeds suffer because of this rubbish class of people.

It's a sad coincidence that this incident took place in Ahmedabad, because similar things happen everywhere after all. However, Ahmedabad seems to be particularly full of tragic animal stories, many about dogs and others about the mass butchering of birds during their famous kite-flying festival. Gandhi would have been proud of this city, wouldn't he?

Here's the story of Ghattu's sad little life, reported by my friend who witnessed it. "It's a happy thing when a street dog becomes a pet dog and gets a loving home....but too sad when a pet dog gets abandoned and is forced to live as a street dog again.

"This happened to poor Ghattu....our 'animal-loving' neighbours' dog who was living with them since she was a small puppy. They'd been planning to move to Canada for a long time, and sometimes they talked about taking Ghattu along, and sometimes they said that a relative with a farm house will take care of her. I stopped asking them what would happen to Ghattu when they leave because I had the impression that they will take care of her or at least find her a place.

"On 4 December, the woman of the family asked me in the afternoon whether I knew anyone who would take Ghattu. She said she is worrying about her because they are leaving for Canada on the 5th evening. How stupid is that??? Hardly 24 hours before departure, it came into their minds to think about their dog....I couldn't believe it! When I told her that the idea of finding her a new home had come just a bit late, a day before leaving, she just ignored it and the next day, none of them said good bye to us."

"And Ghattu was on the road now. The very next morning, the grandparents kicked her out, kept a water plate and food plate outside the gate and locked it. That was it, Ghattu was thrown out after two years of staying mainly indoors, or semi-indoors, mostly on a tiny balcony...She was not toilet trained (that's why they kept her always on that balcony) and she was also not friendly with other female dogs, except the one in the colony who was her mother."Ghattu tried to enter many peoples' homes the next day, through any open door, she was inside...and was loudly shoooed off.

"Surprisingly, she didn't bark or howl at all after they left and after she was thrown out. I think she quickly realized what kind of people she had stayed with all her life and that they were not worth missing or mourning. The clever girl joined our society dog pack and the alpha male seemed to like her a lot, which meant that within a short time, she would have her own puppies because she was not sterilized. When I went for a walk with my dogs, she followed us but then spent her time on the garbage dump outside the colony gate or roamed around inside the colony. I hoped no-one would call the AMC again."

"And now she has passed away already.

"I hadn't seen her for a few days and when I asked the grandparents of the family, they told me she had had foam on her mouth and died the very next day. May she rest in peace. I hope she'll meet Bandra and other departed dogs and she can forget about the short and sad life she had among careless and hopelessly selfish people who pretended to like her but actually killed her by leaving her out on her own.

"Once again a sad Amdavadi dog story, one among plenty here. Let's hope for justice in 2011 and as you said, more respect for INDogs. But here, it has to start with the very basics such as that INDogs deserve to live...respect, care, recognition are still very very far away in this part of Gujarat...I never came across any Gandhian spirit here, it's nothing but ironic to call this city Gandhi's place."

I'm sure like most Indians (and unlike me), Ghattu's former owners are very religious people, observe all known rituals and consider themselves deeply moral. Here's my New Year message for all such hypocrites.Read the Mahabharata, it begins and ends with dog stories. If you are barely literate, ask someone to tell you how this great epic ends.

The short version: King Yudhistir reaches Heaven after a long and difficult journey across the Himalayas. His brothers and wife have fallen on the way; his only companion is a dog who has followed him faithfully to the end. But the dog is denied entry. And Yudhistir refuses to enter Heaven because to abandon the creature would be profoundly sinful.

Fortunately the dog is actually the god Dharma in disguise, and this was a test of the king's character.

Would all Indians - god-fearing, scripture-reading, holier-than-thou as they mostly are - pass such a test of character?

Possibly not.They fail it every day, every time one of them betrays and abandons an innocent animal.I piously pray for the same fate for all such human waste products.

12 comments:

This is such a sad story. I wont be surprised if Ghattu was poisoned. It reminds me of the time I was leaving India. Friends, even those who knew how much I loved my dog, suggested I give him away to someone with a farm house where he could be a watch dog. I think they meant, he was not suitable for adoption as a house pet because he is an indog.

They called me crazy for taking 3 months to figure paper work etc on how to take him with me. I started his paperwork even before mine was ready! Dogs are not humans but once adopted and raised by humans, abandoning them equals to abandoning an dependent human child.

I am now calm and finally able to compose my words on this keyboard after non-stop WEEPING for the past 15 minutes.

Ghattu, Ghattu, Ghattu! WHY??????????????!!!!!!!!!!!!!!!!! WHY was this done to you????? You gave your heart, your trust, your LOVE and for WHAT??????????? TO DIE ON THE F**CKING STREET???????????!!!!!!!!!!!!!! This my dear friends, is the worst...WORST, that can be done to one of God's creatures. To PRETEND to love, and to care, and to protect, and then to have it all taken away with such vicious carelessness. Ghattu died in pure and simple AGONY, not from her illness, or injury, or whatever physical demise she suffered, but from a BROKEN HEART! As she laid down, taking in her last miserable breaths, struggling for life, there was only one, ONE single thing on her mind, "Where's my family???" This, in my opinion, is nothing but pure evil.

They say what goes around, comes around. I'm not the kind of person to wish malice on anyone, but in this instance, I would be more than happy to have KARMA teach those sad, PATHETIC owners a thing or two.

And this message goes from me to all NRI's and foreigners staying in India who are thinking of taking in a street puppy as a pet, "Don't f**cking do it if you cannot OR wish not to take your pet back to your own country with you!!!!" Just LEAVE THEM ALONE!!! What happened with Ghattu is she was not able to learn her street dog survival skills and her immune system was not trained to live on the trash and other waste that street dogs eat everyday. Taking in a street puppy for your stupid 6 month vacation is CRUELTY if you cannot take full, 100% responsibility for your pet for the rest of its life. And finding someone with a "farm-house" to take care of it after you go, is spure 100% BULLSHIT! I hear that and read that all the time and it just makes me sick. Again, if you are an NRI or a foreigner, unless you absolutely intend to give 100% care to a street puppy, just look the f**k away! I am being very, very blunt here. Unfortunately, my bluntness is already TOO LATE for Ghattu.

Ghattu, my dear, dear, sweet kutta...you are in my prayers.

Sincerely,

Gino Santistevan - San Francisco, USA (a very proud owner of TWO Indian street dogs from Hyderabad, Rico and Lucky, both of whom now call America home).

I have been a regular reader of your blog though I've never commented. I come to your blog after especially hard days at work, because I know reading about the dogs here and about dogs being happy in people's homes will make me happy again. I miss my dog, a desi one, very much indeed. She is with my mother in Kolkata, while I am in another city for work. Reading about the dogs here gives me faith that she is happy and well-cared for. I don't really have a point to make. I cried a lot just now and I am not sure how to handle the death of a dog. One of my street dogs in Kolkata, one I had spent a lot of time taking care of, sterilising (her stitches opened four times at the hospital because of the attendants' callousness) her, taking care of the baby she rejected - vanished one day. I never found her. I think she came under a vehicle. I don't think about her, because I don't know what I'd do. This was one such.

I was shocked to read this story, but not surprised. I've come across many such hypocrites all my life.

When we were in the process of getting the paperwork sorted for Puppy before bringing him to Canada, most people we knew expressed intense surprise, and a thinly veiled, "Are you crazy?" attitude. To all those people, we replied back asking if they would abandon their child if they were moving elsewhere. And then they had the gall to feel offended by our replies.

Even though I'm not religious, I'm a firm believer in universal justice, and I have no doubt at all that someday, the callous owners of Ghattu will certainly end up sowing what they've reaped.

Anonymous: The person who witnessed this has two rescued dogs already and could not take in another one. She tried to get the dog adopted but no-one was interested. She's also one of the few people in Ahmedabad who tried to expose the criminal action of the corporation in leaving street dogs at the Pirana dumping ground. So let's have fewer judgmental comments about 'passing judgment'.

This is an informal, unofficial group of INDog enthusiasts, linked to my awareness campaign the INDog Project. "INDog" is what we call the Indian native dog, also known as the Indian Pariah Dog. The INDog belongs to a group of dogs known as natural breeds, and aboriginal and primitive breeds.

This is not a welfare or animal rights blog, though health and welfare are discussed sometimes. It is not about any organization. It is not about the "stray dog issue." There are many other sites dealing with such topics. Moreover, Pariah and stray are NOT the same thing (see the glossary below, and also the INDog website).

This blog celebrates the INDog/Indian Pariah Dog as an aboriginal race/breed - its origins, characteristics, appearance, temperament, behaviour, and the sheer fun of keeping it as a pet. If, like many of us, you are captivated by India's First Dog, read on.

Quoting from this blog or the INDog site: I have noticed that while most people follow the normal etiquette and credit my blog or site if they use content, there are a few who have copied text and pictures or quoted copiously without any acknowledgment. Please do not use any content from here or from the INDog site without permission and acknowledgment.

Dogs featured in this blog: I only feature INDogs (Indian Native Dogs) adopted as house-pets. Sorry, the building dog who comes up for his dinner can’t be enrolled. I also feature INDog-mixes who are house pets. In fact, if you live in an Indian city, your dog is possibly of mixed lineage and not a pure-blooded native dog. I call these dogs INDog-mix or Indies.

If you'd like me to post your dog's story in this blog, please write to me at rajashree DOT khalap AT gmail DOT com, along with photographs. I also have a page on Facebook called The INDog Club. Please join if you find this topic interesting.

Why I created the INDog Project and INDog Club: I had the idea of setting up this forum after adopting my own dog, Lalee. My pet peeve is the general confusion and misconceptions about our native dogs. My pet project is to get this ancient natural breed the respect and recognition that is its due.

The Indian public is not particularly dog-savvy and the common third world mindset affects perceptions about dogs. As in many of the poorer countries of Asia and Africa, pets are still selected according to an outdated colonial-era ranking order which perceives anything foreign as superior to anything native. The growing middle class also seeks to display its spending power by purchasing expensive Eurobreeds.

If you too believe that artificially developed modern breeds are superior to ancient indigenous ones, read no further. This blog is not for you.

In a slide presentation on stray dogs I created for a Mumbai NGO in 1994, and in their website, I pointed out that the Indian Pariah Dog is NOT a mongrel but a primitive breed in its own right, evolved by natural selection over many centuries. This is based on the theories of canine biologists and experts worldwide. True pariah-type dog populations have probably suffered minimal or no genetic contamination by modern breeds. To read more about this, click here.You'll see my post of May 11, 2008 on the "long-term pariah morphotype."

Major W.V. Soman pointed out the difference between Pariahs and mongrels way back in 1963, in his book The Indian Dog. Even earlier, the famous naturalist, environmentalist and Tamil scholar M. Krishnan wrote in praise of these dogs in his essay "The Pariah" (read about his essay here). It's time Indians got the message.

The INDog/Pariah Dog is the blueprint, the prototype for our best friend canis familiaris. It’s what Nature intended dogs to be.

Why I created this blog: My friends and family are sick of this topic and I have to find some new people to pester!

Seriously, where else can we besotted INDog and INDog-mix owners meet up and show off our beloved pets?

INDog owners, please use this space to share your experiences, dog photos and videos, useful information for other dog-owners. Owners of mix-breeds (or mongrels) are also welcome, as long as the dog is at least part INDog. Mail your dog stories and dog images to me at rajashree DOT khalap AT gmail DOT com. They will be moderated but everything relevant to this topic will appear here. No objectionable or offensive posts please.

Must-know stuff

Pariah:An indigenous and ancient race of domestic dogs which evolved a distinct appearance and character without human intervention. This appearance is called the "long-term pariah morphotype" by scientists -clickhereto seephotos of the type.The word comes from the Pariah tribe of Tamil Nadu which was considered outcast.

While the original usage of the term is derogatory, it has become a scientific term and has been used by zoologists and ethologists for decades, for instance by Dr B S Guha and Colonel Sewell in their chapter on zoological remains in "Mohenjo-Daro and the Indus Civilization" (ed. John Marshall, 1931). It has no negative connotation in the scientific, canine context. (We should remember that even the words dog, its Hindi equivalent kutta, and bitch are used in a derogatory way although they are obviously perfectly acceptable when used in reference to dogs alone).

Pariah-type dogs across continents have the same basic physical characteristics. Enthusiasts consider such primitive breeds to be superior in most ways to artificially developed breeds as they are perfectly adapted for survival. These breeds are not only extremely hardy, they are also very alert and have the high-order intelligence required for a free-roaming life under circumstances that are often difficult and even hostile. In biological terms, the aboriginal dogs of Asia and Africa are of the highest value for study of genetics and origin of the dog.

Dogs are not much studied in India and in the early days there were no Indian experts in this area, so terms coined by western scholars tended to stick. I believe the term "Indian Pariah Dog" is very generic and that our aboriginaldogs should have a name of their own (like the Canaan Dog of Israel). The name INDog is already being used by some experts and is perfect for this indigenousbreed.

Aboriginal breeds in some parts of the world have now been officially recognized by kennel clubs, including the UKC, which has a Pariah and Sighthound group. The FCI (Federation Cynologique Internationale) refers to Pariah dog types as "Primitive Types." In some countries such dogs are being selectively bred. The best-known are the Canaan Dog of Israel and the African Basenji.

It is now accepted that many of the free-roaming dogs in Indian cities and towns are actually mix-breeds (mongrels), though some certainly look more "mixed" than others. Pure INDogs are more common in rural and remote areas where there are no Eurobreeds or other types of dog to interbreed with, and minimal or no admixture has occurred.

People sometimes use the words "Pariah" and "stray" interchangeably. This is an incorrect usage.

INDog: An aboriginal dog which perfectly conforms to the true pariah-type and is not mixed with any other breed. This is the name many of us have started using for the Indian Pariah Dog. How would you identify an INDog? By both type and location. Read the criteria in this post.

Indy, INDog-mix: A mix-breed dog descended from INDogs. I prefer these terms to 'mongrel', for our urban street dogs and other mix-breeds with INDog ancestry (see 'Mongrel', below). Since our mix-breeds are almost always part INDog, they are different from mixes of only Eurobreed dogs.

Mongrel: (called mutt in the US) Defined as a dog of mixed butindeterminate breed,whose lineage is not known. Earlier pariahs were considered to be mongrels but for the last few decades it has been recognized that pariah dogs are a pure, natural breed in their own right. In India almost all mongrels have INDog/Indian Pariah mixed in their lineage. I prefer to call such mix-breeds 'Indies' or INDog-mix.

Mongrels exist thanks to irresponsible dog-owners who let their pets mate with strays. This practice not only exposes the pet to serious health risks (including venereal disease), it also increases the already huge street dog population, and lessens the number of genetically pure INDogs.

(Let me clarify that I love mongrels - in fact, I think they are adorable, and have adopted four over the years - but the reason for their existence is poor pet ownership, which is regrettable to say the least. It would be a pity to lose the unique character of our ancient aboriginal race because some inferior dog owners let their pets roam and breed on the street.)

Pi-dog, pye-dog: A term used by the British. It also means pariah dog.

Stray: There is a lot of confusion about this word and it is frequently used incorrectly. “Stray” does NOT refer to breed but to the legal status of the dog. In India it seems to mean an ownerless, unlicensed free-roaming dog. Since most "strays" in India happen to be INDogs or mongrels, all these terms are often used interchangeably. This is wrong. Purebreeds abandoned by their owners become strays. INDogs and mongrels adopted into homes are no longer strays but pets.

I find this word very vague and don't use it much. I prefer the terms "free-roaming" or "free-ranging" dog.

Purebreed: A dog of only one breed, born of selected parents. Most of the commercially recognized “pure” breeds have only been created in the last two centuries, as strict breeding norms were not followed earlier. In actual fact, almost all modern “pure” breeds have been created by mixing two or more breeds.